


The Things You Hear

by orphan_account



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Also major Reichenfeels, Gen, Giant plot twist at the end, I mean hypothetically it could actually be real, M/M, There's a voice in John's head, au but not really, but i mean, they don't actually get together in the fic, well just read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-29 21:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/691612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The voice first appears when John is tied up and Sarah's about to be killed.<br/>It keeps coming back, but he never really listens.<br/>Until it's too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Things You Hear

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own BBC Sherlock or anything associated with it.  
> Not beta'd or brit-picked. Any mistakes are my own.

The voice first appears -- although maybe "appears" isn't the right word since there's no face to go with it -- when John is tied up and Sarah's about to be killed.

"How would you describe me, John?" Sherlock asks. "Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?"

_Beautiful? Wonderful? Perfect?_

John nearly jumps out of his skin because those _definitely_ were not his own thoughts. Someone else was talking to him _in his own mind._

"Late?" he offers weakly, attempting to figure out where -- who -- those words came from... and most importantly, _why._

_Oh, come on, John. You know why. Don't be daft._

_I'm not gay, if that's what you're implying!_ John thinks angrily, even though he's not entirely sure whether or not the voice can hear him.

_I never said you were._

_Who are you?_ John asks, but there's no answer. The voice is gone.

John shakes his head, a bit confused, and starts trying to help Sherlock rescue Sarah.

* * *

The voice shows up again just after John yells at Sherlock for not caring about the bomb victims. 

"I've disappointed you," Sherlock says.

"Good. That's... a good deduction. Yeah," John says, fighting the urge to start yelling again.

_Not disappointed, John. No. You know what it is._

_What are you talking about?_ John asks. He's not as startled as before, but it still scares him, having someone else in his head, talking to him and reading his mind.

_You want him to be able to feel. But don't worry. He does feel. He's just better at hiding it than most. You'll see._

_Tell me who you are!_ John demands, but the voice is gone again.

John almost breahes a sigh of relief.

Almost.

He's not naive enough to believe that the voice won't be back.

* * *

It is back, and sooner than he expected. He's at the pool, covered in Semtex, and Sherlock's looking at him and John can tell that Sherlock thinks, just for a second, that John is Moriarty. Has always been Moriarty. And the sheer betrayal in Sherlock's eyes --

_Breaks your heart?_

Kills him inside.

_Breaks your heart._

_Shut up,_ John thinks.  _Now's really not the time._

Thankfully, John is allowed to pull open his jacket and show Sherlock the Semtex. Sherlock understands instantly, and the pain in his eyes changes to fear. Terror, even.

 _Terror for you, John,_ the voice reminds him. _Terror that you'll die. You think he doesn't care? I beg to differ._

 _I know that!_ John says.  _I'm not stupid._

 _No,_ the voice agrees. _You're not._

And then it's gone again.

* * *

It comes back after Moriarty leaves. Sherlock rushes over to him, literally tears the Semtex off him -- and the jacket with it -- and throws it across the floor as hard as he can, while John insists that he's fine.

"I'm glad no one saw that," John says, and continues when Sherlock looks at him curiously. "You... ripping my clothes off in a darkened swimming pool. People might talk."

"People do little else," Sherlock says, the corners of his mouth turning up, and the voice is back.

_You enjoyed it._

John ignores the voice this time.

Suddenly, a red dot appears on Sherlock's chest. John looks down to see an identical dot on himself.

And Moriarty's back.

John is sure they're going to die this time. That's why, when Sherlock glances down at him, asking for permission to take Moriarty with them, John nods.

 _You'd trust him with your life,_ the voice says.

 _Yes, I would,_ John replies.

_You won't die._

John doesn't question the voice, doesn't have time, because a second later Moriarty's mobile rings, and minutes later he's gone -- for good this time. And with him goes the voice.

For now.

* * *

He's having a conversation with Irene Adler, who has turned out to be a bit less dead than he'd thought, when the voice comes back.

"Are you jealous?" Irene asks.

"We're not a couple!" John says, angry. Why does everyone _always_ assume that he and Sherlock are together?

 _Maybe because 'we're not a couple' doesn't answer the question 'are you jealous'?_ the voice says. John is so mad now that he forgets himself and answers out loud.

Luckily, Irene thinks he's talking to her. He isn't sure how he'd explain the fact that he was actually responding to the voice in his head without sounding insane.

 _If I ever find out who you are, I will find you and strangle you,_ John threatens.

 _Oh, I'm terrified,_ the voice says sarcastically, and then it's gone again.

* * *

Months go by, and the voice hasn't returned. John is starting to think that maybe his threat worked, and the voice is gone for good.

* * *

It's been nearly a year now since John last heard from the voice. He's gotten used to having his head to himself again.

And then Moriarty returns.

Everything happens so fast, and before John really knows what's happening, he and Sherlock are on the run. Fugitives. And then Sherlock says "Take my hand" and just like that, the voice is back.

_Do it._

John doesn't have time to be shocked that the voice is back, doesn't have time to think, so he just reaches out and takes Sherlock's gloved hand. It feels natural and right and -- and the voice must have found a way to actually put thoughts into his mind now because there's no way he'd ever think something like that normally.

 _But when has your relationship with Sherlock ever been normal?_ the voice reminds him.

 _Shut up,_ John says, and then out loud, because he really feels like he needs to say something but can't think of anything to say, "Now people will definitely talk."

Sherlock flashes a quick smile at him, and John wonders how he ever survived without this wonderful, brilliant madman in his life.

* * *

The voice comes back when he's standing near St. Bart's, looking up at Sherlock.

"It's what people do, don't they?" Sherlock asks. "Leave a note?"

"Leave a note when?" John asks, his voice breaking, even though he already knows exactly what Sherlock means, he just doesn't want to -- can't -- believe it.

 _Tell him,_ the voice says, and John doesn't have to ask what it means, doesn't argue. There's no point.

There's no time.

"Goodbye, John," Sherlock says softly. John thinks he hears something besides just "Goodbye, John" in Sherlock's voice, but at this point it doesn't matter.

"No... don't --" he stammers into the phone, trying desperately to think of something, anything that will keep Sherlock here with him, but it's too late, Sherlock's going over the edge, over and gone and the voice is speaking again but John's screams drown out whatever it has to say.

* * *

John hears the voice one last time, when he's at the grave. He's just finished begging Sherlock to please, _please_ not be dead, even though he knows it's impossible. He's already started to walk away when the voice speaks up.

 _You loved him._  

It's the first time the voice has actually said it. It's implied it before, sure, but never actually said it.

But John is so tired of denying it, and the voice seems to know everything he's thinking anyway, so he simply says, _Yes._

_I'm sorry._

_For what?_ John asks.

 _That he..._ the voice pauses. _That he's dead. That you never got to tell him. But it will be okay, John. You have to trust me on that. It will take time, but I promise you, it will be okay._

John sighs heavily. The voice has always been right before, so there's no reason to believe that it's wrong now.

But how can anything ever be okay when Sherlock is dead?

 _Trust me, John,_ the voice says, and for the first time it sounds vaguely familiar, like it belongs to someone John knows, but he can't quite place it.

 _Who are you?_ he asks, even though he doesn't really expect an answer.

The voice is silent for a long time, so long that John thinks it's gone again, before it says three final words.

_I love you._

John doesn't hear from the voice again.


End file.
